What are the different schools under the Muslim law of Sunni and Shia sects ?
Here we learn about the topic What are the different schools under the Muslim law of Sunni and Shia sects ? in detail
A Mohammedan or Musalman is a person whose religion is Islam.
The Arabic word ‘Islam’ means submission to the will of God.
Legally, Islam is a religion in which believers hold that (i) God (Allah) is one and only one and (ii) Muhammad is His messenger (Rasool).
The people universally accepted Prophet Mohammad as the head of the Islamic commonwealth.
He was an absolute administrator of the whole body of Muslims.
After the death of Prophet Mohammad, the immediate problem was to find out his successor.
A majority of Muslims advocated the election process to elect a successor and accordingly elected Abu Bakr (father of Ayesha Begum, the youngest wife of the Prophet) as the first Caliph and formed the Sunni sect of Islam.
But a group of minority of Muslims emphasized upon the spiritual headship of the prophet.
Fatima a daughter of the Prophet, represented this minority group.
Consequently, this group nominated Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet (Fatima’s husband) and also a cousin of the Prophet, as the first Imam and formed a separate sect called Shia.
The Muslim Jurists on their personal level concentrated themselves to the further expansion of Muslim law by giving juridical interpretation to Quran and the traditions. Each Jurists having his own interpretation, had followers and they constituted a distinct school. Different Schools under the Muslim law of Sunni and Shia sects are as under
Here we learn about the topic What are the different schools under the Muslim law of Sunni and Shia sects ? in detail
| (A) Sunni 1. The Hanafi or Kufa School 2. The Maliki School 3. The Shafei School 4. The Hanbali School | (B) Shia 1. The Ithna Asharia School 2. The Ismailia School 3. The Zyadis School |
further expansion of Muslim law by giving juridical interpretations to Quran and the traditions. Each jurists having his own interpretation, had followers and they constituted a distinct school. Thus, further divisions split the Sunni sect into four important schools.
Here we learn about the topic What are the different schools under the Muslim law of Sunni and Shia sects ? in detail
1. The Hanafi or Kufa School
Abu Hanifa founded this school, which is the most popular school of Muslim law.
Abu Hanifa stood as an eminent scholar of his time and earned wide recognition for his outstanding logical reasoning and technical legal thought.
They appointed him as Qazi, but he refused to accept the post for fear that they would require him to give judgments against his conscience.
They imprisoned him as a punishment for his refusal to accept the post.
During his life Kufa , the city where he was born and lived, had become an important centre of distinct thinking in Muslim law.
This school is therefore, also called as the “Kufa School”.
Abu Hanifa’s main contribution was that instead of accepting each and every tradition as law, he tried to find out the law in the text of the Quran itself through analogical deductions.
In this manner he preferred scientifically concluded private judgments based on the Quran over a blind reliance on the traditions.
Scholars say that Abu Hanifa relied upon 18 traditions only.
Abu Hanifa believed that society must formulate the law in accordance with its changing needs.
In the absence of a law in the Quran, the jurists may also obtain it through their unanimous decisions.
He further suggested that if the law could not deliver justice, then we may apply the principle of juristic equity (Istihasan) in interpreting that law.
He is, therefore, rightly called the ‘upholder of private judgements and the founder of Muslim jurisprudence.
With certain modifications, his two disciples Abu Yusuf and Imam Mohammad further developed his doctrines.
This school has been Some of the important books on Hanafi law are Radd-Al-Makhtar, popular since very beginning, a large number of Muslims are its followers.
From Iraq, the home of this school, it spread over to other countries inhabited by Muslims such as, Egpt, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Afganistan, China and India etc.
Majority of the Muslims in India and Pakistan belong to this school.
2. The Maliki School
Malik-ibn-Anas of Medina established Maliki School. He was a great scholar and is regarded as an authority on traditions. Imam Mohammad who was the Hanafi jurists, was Malik’s favourite student. This school emphasises the importance of traditions as a ‘source of law’. It recognises the traditions of the Companions, and successors of the Companions. According to this school, as far as possible, the new rules should be obtained exclusively from the traditions. If it is not possible then only Qiyas and Ijma may be taken into consideration. But this school recognises Ijma for only such jurists who lived in Medina. The scope of Ijma as a source of law is therefore, limited under this school. Malik and the subsequent jurists of this school had the privilege of being judges and as such they had to solve day-to-day problems of the public. This made their approach to make law more practical than that of the Hanafis.
One of the important books of this school is, Kitab-al-Muwatta which is an authority on the Maliki doctrines. His compilation of the traditions, ‘Muwatta’ is available even today. Khalil-ibn-Ishaq’s al -Mukhtasar is another important work containing Maliki principles. The principles of this school spread over to the Central and West Africa, Spain, Kuwait and Bahrain. There are no Malikis in India.
3. The Shafei School
The founder of this school is Ash Shafei. He was an eminent scholar of Islamic jurisprudence.
He was a pupil of Malik-ibn-Anas and was related to the Prophet.
Sunni developed his doctrines at Baghdad and Cairo. Ash Shafei also relied upon the traditions of the Prophet. But his reliance on the traditions was more critical than that of Malik. Heexaminedthetraditionsusinglegalreasoningandlogictoestablishaverybalancedandsystematicruleoflaw. Throughout his life he tried to systematise the traditions. Ash Shafei believed that the Quran or the traditions of the Prophet could solve every problem of human life.
Ash Shafei for the first time incorporated usul or principles of law in his book Kitab-ul-umm. His ‘ Risala’ too contains the principles and method of jurisprudence. Other important works on Shafei doctrines are Tuhfat-al-Muhtaj by Hajar, Nihojat-al-Muhtaj by Ramli and Al-Wajiz by Ghazzali. From Cairo the Shafei principles spread in the lower parts of Egypt, Hejaz, Indonesia, Malaysia and South-East Asia. Some of the Muslims in the Western Coast of India are followers of this school.
4. The Hanbali School
This school was established by Ibn Hanbal. He studied under several scholars of eminence, including Ash Shafei. His peculiar feature was that he rigidly adhered to the traditions of the Prophet. That is why, it is said that Hanbal was traditionist rather than a jurist. He relied so much upon the traditions that other sources of law namely Ijma and Qiyas which were neglected by him. He recognised ljma only of the Companions of the Prophet. Under this school, therefore, there is no scope for private judgments and human reasoning. The result is that the doctrines of this school are rigid and uncompromising. Because of this, Ibn Hanbal and his followers were always regarded as reactionaries and were harassed by the authorities from time to time.
One of the important books of Hanbali law is Musnad-ul-Imam Hanbal . It is a collection of about fifty thousand traditons by Ibn Hanbal. Other books by him arc Kitab-ul-Mashaekh and Kitab-ul-Alal . At present very few Muslims are the followers of this school. Generally the Hanbalis are in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Shia Schools
Ali was acknowledged to be the first Imam by the Shia community. He was accepted as the temporal as well as the spiritual head of the community. After the death of Ali, his two sons Hasan and Hussein became the second and the third Imam respectively. After Hussain’s death, his son zain-ul Abdeen succeeded as the fourth Imam. Upto this stage the Shia community remained united but afterwards there had been three main divisions and sub-divisions of this sect, which are as under
1. The Ithna Asharia School
This school is also called as Imamia school. Majority of Shias are Ithna Asharia. The followers of this school believe that starting from Ali there had been twelve Imams who possessed spiritual powers. Everything that comes from the, Imam is taken to be a law. It is believed that the twelfth Imam who disappeared when he was still a child, would reappear in future. A characteristic feature of Ithna Asharia School is that this is the only school in the Muslim world which recognises “Muta” or a temporary marriage.
Ithna Asharia school is further divided into two sub-sects, (i) Akhbari and the (ii) Usuli. Akhbaris are very orthodox beccuse they follow rigidly the traditions of Imams. Usulis, on the other hand, interprert the texts of Quran with reference to the practical problems of day to day life. The Ithana Asharias are found in Iran, Iraq, Lebnon, Pakistan and India. Shari-ul-Islam is an authoritative book of this school.
2. The Ismailia School
For some reasons Jafar Sadiq disinherited, his eldest son Ismail.
The majority of Shias, therefore, did not accept him as their Imam.
But there were some Shias, although in minority, who acknowledge Ismail as the seventh Imam.
The followers of Ismail are called Ismailias or the Seveners because according to them there had been only seven Imams and the Seventh being Ismail. They believe that from him (Ismail) descended a series of concealed Imams whose secret emissaries were constantly on the watch for a chance of striking at some weak point in the large ill-cemented empire of orthodox Islam. The Ismailias, therefore, hold that Imams subsequent to Ismail are still alive but they have concealed their existence. In India, they consist of two main groups (i) Khojas and (ii) Bohras. Khojas were originally Hindus. Bohras are also Ismailias and they separated from the other groups during the Fatimid regime. Both of them are commercial communities from the very beginning. Ismailias are found in the Central Asia, Syria, India and Pakistan etc. Ismailias of Bombay are either Khojas or Bohras. Daimul-Islam is an authoritative work on Ismailias doctrines.
3. The Zyadis School
The founder of this school was Zyad, one of the sons of the fourth Imam. The Zyadis were the first to defect from the general body of Shia Muslims. One of the peculiar features of this school is that its doctrines incorporate some of the Sunni principles as well. The followers of this school are not found in India; they are mostly in Yemen.
4. The Motazila School
This school emerged as a separate sect of Islam around the 9th Century A.D.Ata-al-Ghazzal established this school during the reign of Mamun . Although they do not associate themselves with any of the two existing sects yet, it is said that they defected from the Shia community. The followers of this school believe that Quran is the only basis for their doctrines. Most of the traditions have been rejected by the Motazilas. One of the characteristic features of the Motazilas is that this is the only school in Islam which practices strict monogamy. Marriage with more than one wife at a time is unlawful under the Motazila principles. Another peculiarity is that there cannot be any divorce without interference from a judge. Divorce by *Talaq*is not recognised under this School. At present the followers of “Motazila” sect are comparatively very less in number.
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